Pincher Creek Voice: Peewee Chinooks win home tournament

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Peewee Chinooks win home tournament

Home tournament champions the 2017/18 Pincher Creek Peewee Chinooks

C. Davis/T. Lucas - Pincher Creek's Peewee Chinooks hosted a hockey tournament at the Memorial Community Centre Arena December 1-3. Participating teams included the Chinooks, Canmore's Eagles, Crowsnest Pass Thunder, and the Chestermere Lakers. The Chinooks took first place after Aiden Potts scored the winning goal in the championship game against the Lakers with just 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock in overtime.

Chinooks vs CNP

Each team played three games to decide who would be facing each other in the championship round.

Canmore Eagles

Championship game: Chinooks vs Lakers:

The championship game was between the Chinooks and the Lakers. The Chinooks were well ahead 4 - 1 halfway through the second period, The Lakers scored one with less than a minute on the clock in that period, ending it 4 - 2. In the third period Pincher scored first, for a healthy lead of 5 - 2. The Lakers came back strong, scoring three goals in the last half of the period. the tension was thick as the clock ticked down, but the final buzzer showed a 5 - 5 tie. Five minutes of hard played 4 on 4 overtime ensued. Both goalies were hard-worked throughout the game, and OT was no exception. Netminders Zach Hann (Chinooks) and Cooper Daines (Lakers) deserve respect for their efforts.

The Chinooks pressed the Lakers' defence hard in the final minute of the game, and after multiple attempts, and with only 1.1 seconds left on the clock, Aiden Potts snuck one in the net to win the tournament. Potts was the high scorer of the game, with 4 goals. Drew Stuckey also scored two goals for the Chinooks. High scoring Lakers were Mitchell Kalinowski and Ben Van Ham with two goals each. Noah Gray also scored one for the Lakers.

Earning assists for the Chinooks were Joah Randall, Eric Radvak, Drew Stuckey, Lane Conley, Jaxon Shenton, Jaydon Draper, and Christian Potts. Earning assists for the Lakers were Porter Santarossa (2), Evan Dean, Ben Van Ham, Ethan Parks, and Easton Wayman.

Tiering round and regular season so far:

Chinooks vs Picture Butte Blades

Pincher Creek's Peewee Chinooks are in the Central Alberta Hockey League (CAHL) Tier 4 South West. They're currently fourth in the regular season standings behind Cardson, Picture Butte, and Bow Island/Foremost, but it's still a wide open season, because the Chinooks are only one point behind the second and third place teams and two points behind Cardston, the tier leader. In the regular season the Chinooks have won three games and lost four. They shone against some tough competition at their recent tournament and still have most of the season in front of them.

Chinooks vs Foremost

Top offensive players to date: Drew Stuckey 14 points, Jaydon Draper 9 points, Aidan Potts 7 points

Zachery Hann is the Chinooks' lone goalie. He's played 300 minutes so far, not including the recent tournament, so far saving 79% of the shots directed his way (159 saves).

CAHL stats (Dec. 7, 2017)

The Chinooks and the CNP Thunder are very closely matched in age and skill this season. The Thunder defeated the Chinooks 5-3 during the tiering round and the Chinooks defeated the Thunder 5-2 in the regular season, The Chinooks blanked the Thunder 9-0 at the tournament, but that seems like an anomaly. The Chinooks and Fort Macleod are also closely matched. The Chinooks defeated Fort Macleod 8-7 during the tiering round.

The Chinooks have two upcoming regular season games scheduled. The first is away at Cardston on Saturday December 16 (1:15 pm - 3:15 pm). The second is a home game at the MCC the next day, Sunday December 17 (2:00 pm - 4:00 pm).

Related link/source: http://cahlhockey.net